UPDATE - French Foreign Ministry summons Israel’s ambassador over attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon

CHANGES DECK, EDITS THROUGHOUT; ADDS REACTIONS FROM BELGIUM, GREECE

By Nur Asena Erturk

The French Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned Israel’s ambassador over a series of Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers’ positions in Lebanon, an official statement said.

France condemned the continuing, deliberate Israeli attacks on the headquarters of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in which two peacekeeping officers were injured Friday in Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border.

“Those attacks are grave violations of international law and must cease immediately,” the statement said.

“Israeli authorities must clarify,” it added, and announced that Israel’s ambassador to France was summoned to the ministry.

The statement also said the protection of peacekeepers is an obligation that applies to all parties to a conflict.

Separately, Belgium also condemned Israel’s firing at UNIFIL headquarters on Thursday

The Belgian Foreign Ministry said on X that “targeting peacekeeping personnel not engaged as combatants is a crime,” and urged their protection as required by international law.

The ministry also reiterated its call for an immediate cease-fire.

The Greek Foreign Ministry also expressed deep concern on X, underscoring UNIFIL’s “crucial role in light of the regional escalation.”

“Αs a UNIFIL contributor, Greece stresses that the safety & security of UN personnel & property must be ensured,” the ministry added.

Israeli forces early Friday fired at an observation post belonging to UNIFIL at its headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, wounding two peacekeepers from the Sri Lankan contingent, Lebanon's state National News Agency said.

Two peacekeepers were injured in a similar attack on Thursday.

The strikes came as Israel is continuing its weeks-long campaign of air and ground attacks in Lebanon, while also carrying out its ongoing strikes on Gaza.

Israel has been mounting massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,323 people, injuring over 3,700 others and displacing more than 1.2 million.

The aerial campaign is an escalation in a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive against the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 42,000 people, mostly women and children, since a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

Despite international warnings that the Middle East is on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, Tel Aviv expanded the conflict by launching a ground invasion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.